This invention relates to a mine roof support assembly, and in particular to a mine roof support assembly for use in inclined mine workings.
It is known to provide a mine roof support assembly with a goaf shield or screen which seals off the goaf of the working from the protected area within the assembly in which personnel work. As a mine face progresses the goaf is filled up pneumatically with filling material (such as rock and rubble) and the goaf shield advanced to follow up the advance of the face and the mine roof support assembly. DT-Gbm, for example, discloses a mine roof support assembly comprising a plurality of roof support units positioned side-by-side along the face, and provided with a multi-part goaf screen made up of U-shaped elements which can be retracted and extended telescopically to suit varying depths of seam. Roof support units are also known having goaf shields of varying height.
Known mine roof support assemblies suffer from the disadvantage of drifting down the dip in inclined mine workings. Moreover, where a bonding agent has to be added to the filling material supplied to the goaf space, known assemblies either require the goaf shield to be advanced to follow up the advance of the face too soon to have allowed the filling material plus bonding agent to have set hard, or require the rate of winning of mineral material to be reduced to permit this setting to occur.
The object of the invention is to provide a mine roof support assembly which overcomes these disadvantages.